George Takei blasts Hollywood, praises Broadway

Star Trek icon George Takei has some harsh words for the movie industry as he praises Broadway for having such a diverse year.

In a Facebook post today, Takei writes: ‘…Thanks to the Broadway community – for not being Hollywood. ‘In a year when the movie industry celebrated only white actors for awards, then used gross stereotypes of Asians during the (Academy Awards) broadcast to gain cheap laughs, Broadway celebrated its most diverse year ever.’

Takei pointed to such shows as Hamilton, The Color Purple, On Your Feet, Shuffle Along and his own Allegiance as examples of Broadway’s diversity this season.

The openly gay actor pointed out that these shows ‘brought not only underrepresented voices to the stage, but critical employment opportunities for minority actors as well as many new communities and audiences to New York theaters.’

For Takei, performing on Broadway for the first time is deeply personal.

Allegiance is a musical based on his own family’s experiences as Japanese-Americans forcibly relocated to internment camps during World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

‘I am especially thankful I have had the opportunity, at the age of 78, to fulfill a lifelong dream to tell the story of the Japanese American internment,’ he writes.

‘Our Broadway production was able to reach 120,000 audience members, the same number as those who were unjustly imprisoned out of base fear and prejudice. Each of those audience members are now part of our story. They will help ensure that we never forget the difficult lessons of the past.’

Takei also takes a swipe as Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump who has touted severe anti-immigration policies during his campaign.

‘Indeed, our show could not have had more contemporary resonance, as certain politicians once again stoke public fears, and call for profiling and surveillance of whole groups of innocent people.’